The Kiss: An Anthology About Love and Other Close Encounters(133)

By the time he'd gone through every report he knew she must have been telling the truth and his discoveries sickened him. Bringing her aboard had seemed like a great way to help her, but his trust of his entire crew had put her in danger. He felt like a fool.

At the least, he could let her know she wasn't going to be dismissed with a criminal record. The news would prevent her worrying quite so much and give him the impetus to sort out the rest.

When he entered the brig, the Thorian put his finger to his lips and glanced at Auraylia. The room was darker than normal but he could see the shape of her body, half-sitting and half-leaning against the back wall. It didn't look like a comfortable position to sleep in but she'd been awake so long he wasn't surprised the tiredness had snuck up on her.

Varl opened the cell door for him and he tiptoed in until he was only a couple of feet away. From there he reached out to her and stroked her shoulder.

“Auraylia,” he whispered, on guard in case she tried to attack him again once she awoke. After calling her name three more times, each a little louder than before, she stirred and reacted to his presence.

In less than a second she gripped the hand he'd stroked her shoulder with and bent the fingers back as she shifted the rest of her body out of reach. He tried not to cry out in pain, in case it would alarm her further.

The lights brightened, making her blink and let go of him. When he glanced towards the door, he noticed the Thorian at the room's main console and nodded his thanks.

“Sorry,” he said as he turned back to Auraylia and noticed her shivering and panting for breath. He needed to get better at waking people without making them jump. “Can I sit? Here, on the end?”

He motioned to the end of the bunk and waited for her to give him some sign of at least acknowledging his words. When her head moved up and down he slowly perched on the edge.

“I wanted to come tell you I heard everything you said to Varl, and I believe it all. I wish you'd told me what the crew, Thomas and Ben in particular, did to you.” Her eyes went wide at his mention of the names. “The rest of the crew told me how they'd acted towards you, and it's more than enough for us to drop the charges against you, but I figure you don't want to go back to the dormitory you're assigned to sleep in.”

She shook her head, but her eyes remained wide and her breathing shallow and rapid.

“Is there somewhere you would like to sleep? Somewhere you would feel safer?” Dylan expected her to ask for his quarters or the Thorian's if she wanted to go anywhere, but for a few nights he didn't have any qualms about sleeping elsewhere or on the floor. He'd messed up and he owed the frightened girl some peaceful sleep that didn't come with any conditions or strings.

“The engine room. Where you found me before. Can I sleep in there? I like the hum the engine makes.”

“If you'd like. We can go there now. I'm sure Varl can fetch your bedding and we can make it more comfortable.”

“Now?”

He nodded and stood up. It took a little while for her to uncurl herself and get to her feet but he didn't mind waiting. The Thorian left them without needing any more prompting, and Dylan led her back to the engine room she'd requested.

He was thankful they didn't meet any crew along the way and they were soon at their destination. Dylan turned to the console near the door and tapped away until he'd set the room to only be unlockable and lockable by himself, her and the Thorian. As soon as he'd finished he explained it to her.

“Thank you,” She said and stood in the middle of the small room. He felt as awkward as she looked.

“I hope this arrangement will only be temporary, but you can stay here as long as you feel you need to,” Dylan said as they arranged the bedding Varl turned up with. The Thorian had brought her mattress as well as everything else she'd had in her bunk, so she would be as comfortable as possible and wouldn't have to go to the dorm for anything if she didn't want to.

By the time she had something resembling a bed in the corner, the second officer had snuck out and left the pair by themselves again. She sat on the bed and gave him a brief smile.

“If I decide to press charges against Thomas and Ben, would you be willing to answer questions for their trial? You might not need to, if I can show the video of...”

“Please don't,” she interrupted him.

“Don't press charges, or don't show the video?”

“The video.”

“I'll need you to present evidence somehow. I want them gone from my crew before we leave port again. I'd do the trial right away but I've not got enough officers of a higher rank.”

“Can it be kept private?” Deep furrows appeared in her forehead at the thought of people knowing her secret.

“Yes, I can request no audience from uninvolved people.”

“Then I'll give evidence, but I don't want to run into them again. Can I stay here until we reach port. I'll work from here. I'm sure I could do something useful.”

“You can stay here if you really want to. You'd have been in the brig anyway, but you may want to come out tomorrow for dinner.”

“Why tomorrow?”

“It's Christmas.” He gave her a lopsided grin, but she just looked away.

“I'll stay here. Christmas isn't something I normally celebrate anyway.”